When asked if he could draw any positives from the scrimmage, Venables replied simply and sternly, “No.”

“I don’t think we came ready to perform. I held a few guys out, and I just didn’t think that guys seized the opportunity,” Venables said. “I didn’t feel like we got ourselves better today.”

Linebacker Shaq Smith and cornerback Marcus Edmond missed the scrimmage with injuries, but Venables would not specify the players the staff chose to limit. Yet, he was unequivocal about what else was missing from the field.

“The effort. I didn’t think we were physical,” Venables said. “You can’t teach them how to be tough. They either are, or they aren’t.

“If you’re going to just be good, you’ve got to have some toughness to you. I’m not sure if we have that or not.”

August camp is a tug of war. Some days, the defense pulls the rope closer. Other days, offenses tow it their way. With the recently elevated standard Clemson’s defense has reached under Venables, the offense rarely yanks the rope completely out of defenders’ hands like it did Saturday.

“I haven’t really seen us have a day like that around here defensively in a while,” Swinney said. “We just didn’t bring the juice. We just didn’t have it. When you don’t bring the juice on this practice field, you get exposed.”

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Five Tigers to Watch in Clemson's Fall Camp
Scott Keepfer/Staff/Wochit

If Clemson defenders respond with the same displeasure and resolve their coordinator displayed, they will show up to the next practice with gallon jugs of juice.

“Coach V might not be real happy for a couple of days watching the tape, but they’ll respond,” Swinney said. “These guys have pride. They want to do well. They want to perform.

“That’s why we’ve been successful, because there’s a high level of competitiveness on the practice field, which helps us be successful on game day."